BNP opposes changes to fundamental principles of Constitution

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has expressed its opposition to the recommendations of the Constitutional Reform Commission, which proposes excluding nationalism, socialism, and secularism from the fundamental principles of the Constitution and the core principles of state governance.

The party believes that a more reasonable approach would be to restore Articles 8, 9, 10, and 12 of the Constitution to their pre-15th Amendment status.

BNP conveyed its stance in response to the Constitutional Reform Commission’s recommendations, which were submitted to the National Consensus Commission earlier this week.

Additionally, last Sunday, BNP submitted detailed opinions on the recommendations of five different reform commissions, including those related to constitutional changes.

According to relevant sources, BNP has supported maintaining the National Parliament’s term at five years, rejecting the reform commission’s recommendation to reduce it to four years. The party also opposes the proposal that the Prime Minister cannot simultaneously serve as the head of a political party and the Leader of Parliament.

BNP argues that such matters should be left to the discretion of the political party in question. In its explanation, BNP stated that whether one or multiple individuals hold the positions of Prime Minister or Leader of the House should be a party decision, and imposing constitutional restrictions on this matter would contradict the fundamental principles of parliamentary democracy.

The Constitutional Reform Commission has also proposed incorporating equality, human dignity, social justice, pluralism, and democracy as fundamental constitutional principles.

The proposal emphasises that Bangladesh is a pluralistic, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multilingual, and multicultural country, where the rights and dignity of all communities should be upheld.

However, BNP has disagreed with this recommendation, reiterating its stance that Articles 8, 9, 10, and 12 should be restored to their pre-15th Amendment form.

Article 8 of the Constitution currently states: “Nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism - these principles, along with all other principles derived from them, shall be considered the fundamental principles of the state.”

Meanwhile, Articles 9, 10, and 12 address nationalism, the establishment of a socialist economic system, and the implementation of secularism, respectively.

BNP maintains that these articles should revert to their pre-15th Amendment status. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution was passed by the National Parliament on 30 June 2011, during the Awami League government, effectively abolishing the caretaker government system.

Writer and researcher Mohiuddin Ahmed views BNP’s position on state principles as being driven by party interests.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he stated that BNP’s demand reflects the constitutional framework as it existed when they were last in power.

He pointed out that BNP does not advocate for restoring the four fundamental principles of the 1972 Constitution but rather seeks to reinstate the changes made through the 1976 ordinance. In that year, Ziaur Rahman removed the four original state principles of the 1972 Constitution through an executive order.

BNP also disagrees with the recommendations made by the Constitutional Reform Commission concerning the declaration of a state of emergency. The commission’s recommendation states that the President may declare a state of emergency only after receiving approval from the National Constitutional Commission (NCC).

However, BNP argues that since the declaration of a state of emergency is closely tied to the executive authority of the government, this power should not be vested in any entity other than the government and parliament.

The Reform Commission also recommends that during a state of emergency, no citizen’s rights should be revoked or suspended, and the right to seek legal recourse in court should not be restricted or abolished.

To implement this, the Commission proposes repealing Article 141(b) and Article 141(c) of the Constitution. BNP opposes this proposal, stating that the recommendation fails to clarify the purpose of declaring a state of emergency if no citizen’s rights are to be revoked or suspended.

The Constitutional Reform Commission’s recommendation has called for a caretaker government term of three months. But the Electoral Reform Commission has proposed a four-month term for the caretaker government. It has recommended holding all local government elections before the national elections during this period.

Disagreeing with this, the BNP said that the caretaker government is an exceptional system in the context of the reality of Bangladesh. The constitutional provision of running the state through the people’s representatives. Therefore, in this case, it is advisable to have a caretaker government for a period of 90 days as was in the past. The main responsibility of this government is to hold a fair and acceptable parliamentary election. During this period, only national parliamentary elections are necessary, not any other elections. There is no opportunity to hold local government elections before the parliamentary elections.

A review of BNP’s stance on the Constitutional Reform Commission’s recommendations reveals that the party opposes lowering the minimum age for contesting parliamentary elections to 21 years. It also disagrees with the proposal that the Prime Minister should be nominated with the support of the majority of members in the lower house of the legislature.

However, BNP supports the proposal to nominate one of the two deputy speakers of parliament from the opposition party. Additionally, the party wants the sole deputy speaker of the upper house to be elected from outside the ruling party.

BNP also agrees in principle with the introduction of a bicameral legislature. However, it believes that the recommended four-year term for both the upper and lower houses should be extended to five years.

The constitutional amendment proposal suggests that any amendment must be approved by a two-thirds majority in both houses and then put to a referendum.

BNP opposes this, arguing that it is impractical to subject all constitutional amendments to a referendum. Instead, the party believes it would be sufficient to restore Article 142 to its pre-15th Amendment status.

BNP suggests that a bill passed in the lower house could be sent back for reconsideration, with or without recommendations from the upper house. The party maintains that constitutional reforms should be implemented by the parliament elected after the national elections.

The proposal states in the section on the President that the term of office will be four years and that no individual may hold the position for more than two terms. BNP does not agree with this recommendation, stating that it would be more appropriate for the President to serve a five-year term.

The party also argues that this recommendation is unnecessary, as the existing Constitution already limits the President’s tenure to a maximum of two terms.

In the section on the Prime Minister, the reform commission’s proposal states that the Prime Minister will be nominated with the support of the majority of members in the lower house of the legislature.

BNP disagrees with this recommendation, arguing that since there is no direct election for the position of Prime Minister, the concept of nomination is irrelevant. The party maintains that the selection of the Prime Minister should be based on existing parliamentary procedures rather than an additional nomination process.

The Prime Minister’s section further states that if the Prime Minister voluntarily resigns before the end of the legislature’s term, loses a vote of confidence, or advises the President to dissolve the legislature for any other reason, then the President shall dissolve both houses of parliament only if it is evident that no other member of the lower house is able to secure the necessary majority support to form a government. BNP disagrees with this recommendation.

BNP argues that this proposal is unnecessary, as Article 57(2) of the Constitution already provides a clear framework regarding the dissolution of parliament in such cases.

According to this article, “If the Prime Minister loses the support of a majority of the members of Parliament, he shall resign or advise the President in writing to dissolve Parliament. If the President is satisfied that no other member of Parliament holds the support of the majority, he shall dissolve Parliament.”

BNP maintains that this provision is sufficient and does not require further modification.

Additionally, the reform commission’s proposal states that an individual may serve as Prime Minister for a maximum of two terms, either consecutively or at different times.

BNP disagrees with this, arguing that it would be sufficient to specify that “no person shall be considered eligible to be appointed as Prime Minister for a third consecutive term.”

The Constitutional Reform Commission has recommended the introduction of a permanent High Court seat in all divisions of the country with equal jurisdiction to the High Court Division. This recommendation falls under the Supreme Court section of the judiciary.

However, BNP opposes this proposal, arguing that establishing a permanent High Court Division seat in all divisions of the country conflicts with the basic structure of the Constitution.

As an alternative, the party suggests that a circuit bench of the High Court Division can be established outside Dhaka under Article 100 of the Constitution.

The commission has also recommended adding a provision to the Constitution to institutionalise the appointment of the most senior judge from the Appellate Division as the Chief Justice.

BNP partially agrees with this proposal. The party stated in its opinion that, considering the ‘doctrine of necessity,’ the obligation to appoint the Chief Justice should be imposed from among the three most senior judges instead.

BNP Standing Committee Member Salah Uddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo, “Separate proposals were submitted to the Reform Commission on all key issues, including the Constitution, Election Commission, and public administration, from BNP. However, we have observed that most of BNP’s proposals were not reflected in the commission’s recommendations. That is why we have provided detailed opinions along with the commission’s spreadsheet and have also included explanations on relevant issues to avoid confusion.”

The BNP leader, who was involved in drafting the party’s reform proposals, further stated that the responsibility for amending the Constitution lies with the elected government.

He emphasised that any constitutional amendment must take place only after an election, as the elected government should be the one to introduce and implement such changes in parliament.

*This report, originally published in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat